The Movie
Disney's newest addition to their roster of cinematic princesses is the strong, lovely Tiana, a waitress and aspiring restaurateur in 1920s New Orleans. Just when her lifelong dream is on the verge of slipping away, she crosses paths with a suave, talking frog--in reality visiting Prince Naveen, who wound up on the wrong end of some voodoo magic--and their fairytale smooch brings unexpected results in The Princess and the Frog.
Tiana and Naveen's ensuing journey together is fraught with colorful characters and catchy songs, dependably witty and remarkably full of heart, if a bit predictable here and there. Visually, it is an almost nostalgic blend of styles, calling upon traditional hand-drawn animation along the way to a digital finished product.
Also be sure to read Lexi Feinberg's review of The Princess and the Frog.
The Picture
As I mentioned, the movie has tapped the world's greatest artists in both digital and analog media, and the results are simply spectacular. The 1.78:1 image is lush with color and displays a stunning clarity, nowhere more evident than on the occasional front page of a newspaper, sometimes with legible text! The soft glow around a wishing star is pleasingly clean, and all such gentle transitions are suitably smooth. In one sequence, a piece of stylized artwork comes to life, and the texture of the brushstrokes is maintained throughout. The entire presentation fairly sparkles with near-perfection.
The Sound
The accompanying DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack is precise and effortless at all times. Rear-channels are keenly exploited for incidental noises, off-camera voices and echoes; a wave crashing over the audience or the myriad busy sounds of the bayou. Directionality is strong during a fast-paced chase, and elsewhere a nifty low-end POOF! punctuates a transformation, in addition to thunder that rocks the subwoofer and surrounds. The musical numbers are all big sonic events, a room filled with evil spirits feels eerily alive, and the climax is a satisfying gumbo of music, voices and effects.
The Extras
The instant we choose to begin the film we're offered our first extra, the option to "Play Movie with Work in Progress" a Bonus View presentation of an earlier, less-polished version shown in a large stationary window in the upper left corner of the screen. For audio commentary fans, there's also a track with co-writers/directors John Musker and Ron Clements, joined by producer Peter Del Vecho. Four deleted scenes total 12 minutes, including director introductions, comprised of relatively crude art and utilizing temporary voices. The four-minute "Never Knew I Needed You" music video by Ne-Yo packs Dolby Digital 5.1 audio.
From here the remainder of Disc One is largely a collection of featurettes, each worth watching for different reasons. The elaborately produced segment "Bringing Life to Animation" (seven minutes including introduction) focuses on two fascinating live-action reference sequences shot for the benefit of the artists, here with full audio commentary over multiple angles plus added graphics. "Magic in the Bayou: The Making of a Princess" (22 minutes) provides the most inclusive overview of the production, while the brief "The Return to Hand Drawn Animation" (three minutes) acknowledges the use of traditional "2D" styles and techniques used for the rough and clean-up stages of the animation, on paper!
"The Disney Legacy" reveals how the current generation of filmmakers has been touched by history (two-and-a-half minutes). "Disney's Newest Princess" introduces us to a few of the characters and the actors behind them (three minutes), while the "The Princess and the Animator" pays tribute to Tiana's supervising animator, Mark Henn, also the artist responsible for Ariel, Belle, Jasmine and Mulan (two-and-a-half-minutes). "Conjuring the Villain" gives us the skinny on new baddie Dr. Facilier (two minutes) while "A Return to the Animated Musical" (three minutes) explores the making an American fairy tale set to the music of Randy Newman, infused with the distinct flavors of gospel, blues, Cajun waltz and more.
The What Do You See: Princess Portraits interactive guessing game tests how quickly we can spot which princess' visage is taking shape in a group of fireflies, with a few tricks thrown in. I also stumbled upon one Easter egg, reminiscent of the classic Warner Bros. cartoon "Duck Amuck" All of these video extras are in high definition, although only the music video is presented as high-bitrate MPEG-2. Still art galleries are organized into four main categories, with individual sub-sections for many characters. The quantity, quality and variety of artwork assembled here is extraordinary.
Disc One also supports BD-Live. Disc Two is a standard-definition DVD with the audio commentary, deleted scenes, set-top game and music video. Disc Three is a DVD-ROM containing a Digital Copy of the movie for either iTunes or Windows Media.
Final Thoughts
A period tale with modern sass, The Princess and the Frog might skew more toward the kids than Mom and Dad, but is undeniably tremendous fun. The Blu-ray is a stunner, with just about every bell and whistle we could ask for, strong audio and some of the best video that the format has yet to deliver. The three-disc set is a remarkable value, so Disneyphiles in particular should flick that tongue and snap it up, pronto!
Product Details
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